The Human Mind

The concept of three levels of mind is nothing new. Sigmund Freud, the famous
Austrian psychologist was probably the first to popularize it into mainstream
society as we know it today. Even though his theories have subsequently been
widely disputed in Psychology circles because they are very hard to
scientifically prove, Freud nonetheless created a useful model of the mind,
which he separated into 3 tiers or sections the conscious mind or ego,
the preconscious, and the unconscious mind.
The best way I have found to illustrate the concept of the three minds is by
using a triangle. If you imagine at the very tip of the triangle is your conscious
mind. It occupies only a small portion of space at the top, a bit like an iceberg
where only a fraction of it is showing above the water. It probably represents
about 10% of your brain capacity.
Below this is a slightly larger section that Freud called the preconscious, or
what some refer to as the subconscious. It is much larger than the conscious
mind and accounts for around 50-60% of your brain capabilities.
The section below this is the unconscious mind. It occupies the whole width of
the base of the triangle and fills out the other 30-40% of the triangle. It is vast
and deep and largely inaccessible to conscious thought, a bit like the dark
depths of the ocean.